Well we asked for your suggestions for what this title of this article should be, here are some of the best suggestions….
However you title the article, that was bad. There are a lot of different nouns, adjectives, and adverbs you can use to say that.
The Orange just botched yet another opportunity at a quad 1 win, and resume builders aside, SU probably just threw away their last opportunity to make it into the NCAA Tournament field. SU and Duke came into tonight’s contest both sitting in the “next four out” on Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. This was essentially a play-in game for the bubble discussion and it’s pretty clear who’s a contender and who’s a pretender after tonight’s performance.
Syracuse came out slow on both sides of the floor as if this game was meaningless and Duke took advantage. The Blue Devils were unconscious in the first half shooting 62.5% from the floor and 55.6% from beyond the arc. Eventually Coach K’s squad came down to earth and shot just 27% in the second half, but by then it was too late. SU was down 52-34 at the half and barely cut into the 18-point deficit as the Orange lost 85-71.
The biggest takeaway from this game is how poor Syracuse is in the paint. Quincy Guerrier was rendered ineffective today with a capital “e.” Guerrier scored just 7 points and was 3-11 from the field. He was thoroughly outplayed by Mark Williams. A guy Coach Boeheim calls “big guy.”
Clearly Coach Boeheim can see what a good big man looks like in the paint. So the question Fizz Nation has is, “Why can’t you recruit one of those, and why are we recruiting bigs that apparently can’t play?”
Williams had a big night, 18 points and 11 boards. It seemed like every other play he was either converting an alley-oop or jamming home a rebound. He killed SU on the glass this year like many other teams have and will continue to do (looking at you UNC).
All in all just another dud of a performance by the Orange. SU continues to dig itself huge holes and have lapses defensively. The Orange have played better in second halves and responding but by then it’s too late and against actual good, respectable teams in the ACC, you aren’t coming back from a double digit deficit.
Next up for Syracuse is yet another road test against a quad 1 opponent in Georgia Tech. Stay tuned for coverage throughout the week…
